


Infinite Possibilities

by tinyAvenueSailor



Series: The Possible Maybe [3]
Category: Fantastic Four (Comicverse), Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Dream World, Family Fluff, Identity Porn, Johnny is freaking out, Kid Fic, M/M, Married Couple, Nightmare, Parallel Universes, Take your best guess, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-16
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:15:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22759132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinyAvenueSailor/pseuds/tinyAvenueSailor
Summary: Johnny blinked and tried to steady his breath. Just a moment ago he was out flying above New York City in an epic battle with his team and Spider-Man against a group of wannabe magicians. They had managed to corner the group but in a rushed moment to wrap it up quickly he got caught off guard with a spell and got a direct hit. The last thing he remembered was Spider-Man reaching out for him before blacking out. Now he was standing in the middle of a kitchen he was unfamiliar with; in an apartment, he couldn’t identify with no idea what that spell did. He would say teleportation, but he wasn’t in his uniform. He was in pajamas with a fresh cup of coffee sitting in front of him.Still, he had everything under control. Just remember what Reed said, ‘Don’t freak out and….’ He may have forgotten the rest. But he’s sure the most important part was don’t freak out. He can do that.“Daddy?” Johnny went still when a little boy with light brown hair and blue eyes looked right up at him.Okay, he was freaking out!Continuation of Missed Opportunities/Perfect Stranger
Relationships: Peter Parker/Johnny Storm
Series: The Possible Maybe [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1430404
Comments: 47
Kudos: 249





	1. Chapter 1

“Why does it have to be magic?” Johnny heard Spider-man grumble. “I hate magic.” Johnny dodged three water balls casted by the female magician with purple hair before he came to a hover beside Spidey. 

“You can take aliens, cryptids, time travel and parallel universes but magic is where you draw the line?” Johnny folded his arms.

The green mohawk mage came flying towards Spider-man with a flaming sword in his hand. Spider-man easily avoided him with a backflip and the mage crashed into the wall behind him. “Because those have logical scientific explanations, magic makes no sense! There’s no logic behind it! It breaks every rule in science!”

“See Spider-man gets it!” Reed spoke over the intercom. He could hear his sister rolling her eyes at her husband. Johnny guessed all science nerds had a mutual hate for magic.

“Here’s an idea,” Sue had her motherly tone on, “let’s deal with the five magicians wreaking havoc in the city and then you and Spider-man can have your debate on the nonsensical laws of magic!” 

“Yes, ma’am,” Reed and Spider-man both went sullen like children after their mother had scowled at them. 

Johnny snickered and chased after the female mage. This wasn’t a world-ending danger threat, just an annoying one. A group of goth hipster kids were just messing around and being irresponsible and managed to get a real magic book and artifacts in their hands. Of course, they decided the best course of action would be to take on society and deliver their own self-righteous justice. Even with the damages they’ve caused, they were still more a danger to themselves than New York City and all the superheroes taking up residence there. 

Keeping to Sue’s plan his aim wasn’t to capture her but to chase her into a corner. Spidey had the flaming sword guy and the other three were split between Sue, Reed and Ben. This was honestly too easy. Johnny didn’t have to do much before she went running in the direction he wanted her to go. By time she realized she was in a trap, she had already been surrounded with the rest of her friends.

“Ahhh!” The purple mohawk magician was thrown against a wall above his friends and then blasted him with a web shot. 

“I don’t know why,” Spider-man swung up and did a backflip before landing gracefully beside Johnny. “But this guy hates me. Want-to-cut-me-in-half kind of hate me.”

“No offense, Spidey but there are more than a few people out there that hate you.”

“Yeah, but they usually hate me for a reason,” Spider-man pointed to the kid he plastered against the wall. “I don’t know what I did to this guy.”

Ben shook his head, “Don’t mind it Spidey, I don’t think they like anyone.”

“Oh, well I feel much better now,” Spider-man fell back into his heels.

Sue tapped her chin and sighed, “Which brings up the question, why exactly are you guys doing all of this?”

“Why?! Why not?! We are tired of living in a world where we are constantly oppressed!”

“We are finally taking a stance against a society that hates us!” The others all cheered in agreement.

“Was there an actual plan for this so-called ‘stance’?” Reed asked the killer question. They all froze before giving him hard scowls.

“I can’t believe I wasted my evening chasing self-proclaimed SJW heroes,” Johnny rolled his eyes.

“Could be worse,” Spider-man shrugged. 

“Come one,” Sue stepped forward, always the one to pacify the situation. “Just come in with us peacefully and we are sure the NYPD will hold back on charges.” Johnny saw one of the magicians remove a gem from his pocket at an angle that Sue couldn’t see. Before he could warn them Johnny had rushed to his sister’s side and pushed her out of the way. 

The magician had activated the gemstone and the red blast his Johnny at the centre of his chest. He heard his family and Spider-man scream his name. His eyelids began to feel heavy and as he felt his body falling he saw Spider-man reaching out for him before it went black.

  
  
  
  


Johnny opened his eyes and he was standing in his living room. No… not his living room. This was the Baxter Building, he could tell from the view outside the wall-length windows but this wasn’t his living room. All the furniture was different and re-arranged. He was just with his family and Spider-man arresting those amateur magicians and then the red blast! What did it do? What did it do?!

“Sue? Reed?” Johnny called out hoping for a reply. “Ben? Spidey!” Maybe someone else was here with him. They could have an explanation for him. Johnny walked around and came upon a phone laying on a table with three kids, two eerily similar to Franklin and Val and a third one in the middle, sharing similar looks. Johnny had to think for a minute before he realized those two kids were Franklin and Valerie but they weren’t the two kids barely passing his waist, they were almost teenagers. The other kid between them couldn’t be older than three or four. Did Reed and Sue have another kid? When could that have even happened?! Val and Franklin are teenagers! Where the hell was he!

_ Don’t freak out. Don’t freak out. Don’t freak out! _ Johnny needed to go over all the rules Reed gave him on time travel or alternate universes. He doesn’t really know which one it is. He could be time-travelling in an alternate universe for all he knows! He just can’t freak out.

“Daddy,” A little boy with light brown hair and blue eyes which could only belong to a Storm spoke. Johnny swallowed as he instantly recognized this kid as the smallest one in the picture with Valerie and Franklin. He took a look around the room and hoped there was another person named Daddy behind him, otherwise, why would this child be staring at him. “Daddy.” the boy this time ran up to his leg and tugged his pants. He is not freaking out. He is not. Not when those blue eyes are looking at him with so much expectation. “Yes, sweetie.” That didn’t sound too awkward. He was only trying to follow how he saw Sue interact with her kids.

“Can you make pancakes?” He tugged on Johnny’s sweatpants. This kid was definitely his son. Where would a toddler learn how to use those big eyes and pout to get what he wants. Despite the urgency of his situation, Johnny couldn’t say no. He’s fallen victim to his own move. “S-sure, sweetie.” The kid sprung up and ran in the direction of what Johnny guessed was the kitchen. If this was an alternate universe then consider Johnny jealous of his alternate self. It was his dream kitchen. There was possibly a him in the universe that had his dream kitchen. The perfect marbled tiles, the spice rack

“Daddy?” the little boy had climbed onto one of the chairs at the island and sat waiting for Johnny to start. Right, lost in someplace in the time-space continuum. 

Johnny was able to easily find ingredients and appliances to use. The Johnny of this world (or time) had the same thought process that he did. Johnny made plain pancakes since it was the safest in his book of recipes. He watched Benji as he mixed the batter and saw that the kid had no complaints. Benji got on his knees when Johnny took out the frying pan. He watched the pancake intensely until Johnny flipped it over and his face lit up. The kid looked more interested in seeing Johnny flip pancakes than eating the actual pancakes. When Johnny was done he laid out a plate of three stacked pancakes to the kid. He felt his heart skip when he saw the frown on the kid’s face. “Daddy, the blueberry sauce.” Blueberry sauce? Johnny searched through the fridge and sure enough, there was homemade blueberry sauce. 

“Here we are,” Johnny poured some onto the pancakes and the kid starting eating without complaint to his relief. 

So far he managed to come to terms with his situation. This was either Time Travel, Alternate Universe or Dream World. If it was time travel or an alternate universe then Sue and Reed could definitely get him back. If it was a dream world then he was either going to have to help himself or hope his real family was figuring something out. Either way, He needed to figure out some things. 

Johnny took a seat next to the kid. “Hey,” the kid looked up with a bit of blueberry smudging the corner of his lip. “Can you spell your name?” He nodded and swallowed his food quickly. Kids were always quick to take up challenges like these.

“B-E-N-J-A-M-I-N, Benjamin!”

“Benjamin?”

“Benji!”

Did he name his kid after Ben? Oh boy, was Ben going to have a field day if he ever found out about this one. “Uh, Benji do you know where Aunty Sue or Uncle Reed is?”

“Aunty Sue and Uncle Reef live up there,” Benji pointed up to the ceiling. So they were above him. Johnny would have loved to run upstairs but he didn’t feel safe leaving Benji by himself. Had he learnt anything from babysitting Val and Franklin, its that kids were unpredictable. You leave them to sit and watch TV and then they go and sneak into their Father’s lab and teleport the building to Australia. Until he had someone to pass Benji off to he was stuck with him. 

  
  


Johnny had hoped he kept up the act of a parent well. He got Benji to take a bath and helped him get dressed. The kid followed suit and didn’t show any signs that he was acting out of the norm. Everything was fine until he tried to separate from Benji. Benji hoped down from his bed and took up a few of the toys before dashing out of his room to sit in front of the TV. “Daddy!” Johnny followed and watched Benji point to the flat screen. TV? Perfect, TV! The best distraction for a four-year-old child. Johnny flicked through the children channels until Benji pointed out the one he wanted. In a few seconds, Benji had his eyes glued to the screen to a show Johnny couldn’t recognize. If Johnny knew anything after watching all those kid-shows with Franklin, it's that they were all the same. Johnny finally had a chance to investigate. It would be best to contact Sue and Re- “Daddy?” Johnny spun back around to Benji blinking up at him.

“Uhh, yes sweetie?”

“Watch,” Benji pointed towards the TV. 

Johnny looked up at the screen and then back down at Benji. He was ready to make up some bullshit excuse on the spot but then Benji furrowed his eyebrows. Not in the way a toddler did when they were upset or about to throw a tantrum, but one that mirrored Sue’s and Spidey’s when they were suspicious of him and knew that something was out of place (maybe the last one sounded out of place but Johnny had a good guess on what Spidey’s expressions were under his mask). Johnny put on a smile and nodded before sitting down behind Benji on the couch. Once Benji saw his Dad was seated he turned his attention back to the show. 

Johnny slid his hand to his phone. A text from Aunt May? Who’s Aunt May? Insta-messages from Bobby, angry messages from Ben and finally Sue. He could just send a quick SOS. Johnny’s eyes slipped off the phone to check on Benji and found blue eyes piercing right through him. Benji remained silent and continued to stare at him while Johnny was frozen like a kid caught doing something wrong. He looked down at his phone and then back up at Benji. This kid really didn’t expect him to watch the ‘entire’ thing with him, did he? The pout on Benji’s face was a clear indicator of a yes. Johnny placed the phone down on the table for Benji and straightened his back to the couch. Benji waited before he turned back to the TV screen. Every few moments he would look back to make sure Johnny was watching and his mood would lift every time it did. Johnny had managed to slip in one or two messages but still had yet to receive a message from her. Johnny sighed. Usually, she would get back to him immediately and Reed would have definitely rushed down to retrieve and examine him in the lab. 

‘The Itsy Bitsy Spider went up the waterspout-” Johnny raised his eyebrow when the phone started to vibrate playing the and R&B version of the ‘Itsy Bitsy Spider’. He grabbed up the phone to check the caller. Benji turned around noticing his Dad’s attention was off the show. He saw Johnny’s face dropped in disappointment and morphed into confusion and then horror. “Daddy?”

Johnny was too scared to answer and let the phone ring to voicemail. Then a notification popped with a missed call from ‘Daddy’. Johnny’s mouth fell open when he was sure of the person in the caller id picture. He couldn’t even process because the phone started ringing again. His immediate reaction was to throw it to the other side of the couch. 

He mentally ticked off Dream World. Definitely, not Dream World! Because there was no way in hell he could dream this shit up. More like a Nightmare. 

Otherwise, why would Peter fucking Parker be listed in his contact list as ‘Daddy’!

Okay, he was freaking out.


	2. Reality is a Nightmare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to my beta, [ fandom-mashup ](https://fandom-mashup.tumblr.com/)

The first rule when ending up in some parallel/dreamscape universe: don’t go snooping around. The space-time-continuum was very fragile and even though the Fantastic Four has had their frequent run-ins with it like some annual Christmas special, there were still many questions left unanswered. Reed didn’t want to risk potentially wiping their universe from existence - it may have almost happened once or twice. 

Johnny was sure Reed could look past this minor instance. This was detrimental! Worse than that time he lost his Limited Edition Louis Vitton red leather jacket. Somewhere in some alternate universe, Peter Parker’s caller id was ‘Daddy’!

Peter Fucking Parker!

The one that puts the worst pictures of him in the Bugle. The one that always had a smart comeback for Johnny. The one that could hit his peak level of annoyance with one sentence. That one that beat Ben in ruining Johnny’s day. That guy! Peter Parker was a loudmouth, smart-ass photographer whose main goal was to ruin his life. It was a mystery how his best friend Spider-man had such a good relationship with Parker. Johnny couldn’t even stomach the thought of having Parker’s number in his phone. And that phone’s alias, his stomach was swirling at the memory. He needed to get to the bottom of this for the sake of his sanity.

Benji ran behind his father, his little feet failing to keep up with Johnny’s frantic pacing up and down the living room. He called out again and again with a pout on his face growing deeper each time. “Daddy!” Benji latched onto Johnny’s leg in an attempt to trap the adult to the spot. Johnny ignored the additional weight and dragged the leg behind him without stopping. “I’m sorry sweetie, I’m doing something important,” Johnny kept his eyes glued to the phone. He scrolled past the 200 selfies of him and Benji filling his photos. His finger froze over a picture. 

Peter stood in the frame, red and blue frosting smeared across his face. Other bits caught in his brown hair. A small Benji sat in his arms in the same devastating state as Peter, the frosting making a mess over his shirt instead. They both were undisturbed about the sticky disaster they were in and made identical silly faces into the camera. Johnny steadied himself when the anchor fell to the bottom of his stomach. His fingers went white around the phone as he took in the sweet picture. 

“Daddy?” Benji tugged again. The tender touch was a splash of ice water on his leg. The numbness crept up from the leg and infected the rest of his body. Benji called double his efforts to regain attention and called after his father again, this time grabbing on tighter to his leg. Johnny recoiled back and the phone slipped from his hand and clattered to the floor face forward. This was a nightmare. This couldn’t be a reality. The gold band on his finger that had remained obscure in his eyes suddenly felt heavy. He rushed around Benji searching for any proof to refute his theory. Every picture, every cupboard and drawer he could find was ransacked and rummaged.

The living room proved to hold no valuable information. There were many reasons why the bedroom was avoided but it’s a gold mine for recon. The blonde was ready to hunt through the nearest room he could find when something caught his attention from the corner of his eye. He slowed to a halt and turned to face the wall filled with different sized frames scattered across to create a picture mural. Each picture held an adventure of a family. He could see a few of Sue and him posed together, many of him and Benji clustered together, Val and Franklin with Benji, the Fantastic Four. The Future Foundation. And…. Peter, in candids, in selfies, beside his family, Benji, him like it was where he belonged. The longer he saw Peter and Benji beside each other, the more their similarities couldn’t be ignored. Benji mirrored the smile on Peter’s face like a de-aged clone. 

“Daddy?” Benji blinked up at him. 

Shit! Peter Parker wasn’t just ‘Daddy.’ He was ‘The Daddy’.

Johnny needed to find the fastest way out of the universe as soon as possible, “Who wants to go visit Aunt Sue!” 

* * *

  
“Will Franklin be there?” Benji asked for the third time since he announced their sudden visit to his Aunt and Uncle. Johnny lied through his teeth and nodded, scared that Benji would make a fuss. He sent a few more messages to Sue and Reed and tried to call, he even reached out to Ben but no one answered. 

“Will Val be there?” Benji bounced up and down.

“Yes, yes I’m sure everyone is there to play with you,” Johnny grabbed his hand and began to lead him to the door.

“Wait,” Benji snatched his hand away and ran to his bedroom. 

“Benji!” He’s been lucky enough to stick around and not run into -him- Johnny would prefer it to stay that way. 

Benji ran out with a few books clutched in his hands, “My books!” Was his son a nerd? Johnny didn’t even think long on the topic especially after he saw Benji’s tiny fingers clutched tight onto the books. Out of everything that happened so far, this would be adorable. Too bad he was too distracted falling apart inside. He just needed to see Sue before….

The door clicked open and a voice echoed from the entranceway, “Johnny.” He could already feel the irritation already being triggered. It was a natural body response at this point after his many negative encounters with Parker.

“Johnny?” What Johnny dreaded the most finally happened, a face to face encounter with this universe’s Peter Parker a.k.a this universe’s Johnny’s baby daddy. The husband. 

“Papa!” Benji ran into Peter’s arms. Peter caught the running missile and picked the boy up with ease. “Hey there buddy, looks like you two are ready.” 

“We’re going to see Franklin and Val!” Benji clutched his book tighter to his chest.

Peter raised an eyebrow and looked up at Johnny, “What?”

Code RED. This was not a drill. Repeat, not a drill. One of his worst enemies was standing across from him with the idea that they were in that kind of relationship. Johnny’s never had a civil conversation with Peter before. They haven’t even exchanged the overused, ‘How are you doing?’ “I just wanted to have a quick chat with Sue,” Johnny kept it short to let Peter make his own assumptions to fill in the gaps. 

“Sue and Reed don’t get back until tonight.” Peter's words were a bloody dagger to Johnny’s hopes.

“Tonight?!”

“Yeah, remember Reed and Sue are still on their space exploration trip with Franklin and Val.” 

“No, yes, I forgot.” This was bad. How was he supposed to get back without them? 

“Like you forgot our visit to Aunt May?” Aunt who now?

“Aunt May?”

Peter groaned in frustration, “I was trying to call you, why didn’t you pick up?”

“I lost my phone,” Peter looked down at Johnny’s phone left on the floor in the living room “And I found it then Benji wanted me to watch some TV with him.” It was better to keep to the little facts he had to keep Peter in the dark about this little universe travel mishap. 

Johnny was in luck because Peter dropped all questions there. He shook his head before saying, “I’m sure Benji can survive a few minutes without hogging your attention.” Benji demands for his attention was already a norm in this universe that provided enough explanation for Johnny to remain safe for the moment. He didn’t need to do much talking after that. Peter went off about him giving into Benji’s spoiled behaviour too often and something else about being late. Peter left Benji with an iPad on the couch and Johnny was unfortunately rushed into ‘their’ bedroom.

He wanted to get away from Parker. Not only to prevent him from discovering the truth but because he couldn’t take the excessive lecturing. He nagged just as much as Sue.

Peter dragged off his shirt and…. And Johnny finally understood why this version of him married Peter Parker. Under those ugly baggy shirts, Peter wore were solid defined abs that men at the gym would spend weeks to accomplish and maintain. Peter may be annoying with his constant chatter but a defined V that snuck down under his sweatpants was enough to distract anyone attracted to the male species.

“Johnny? Johnny… are you checking me out?” Johnny snapped out of his trance to the smirk on Peter Parker’s face.

“No! Why would I be checking you out?”The usual hostility naturally slipped off his tongue when faced with Peter’s cocky behavior.

Peter took a step back and furrowed his eyebrows at the snarl, “You just told me yesterday that you wanted to eat chocolate off my abs.” He did? That did sound like something he would say. And those abs were worthy of admiration. “Are you sure you’re okay?” Peter stroked Johnny’s cheek with his thumb. The gesture was unfamiliar but not horrible; it felt good even. 

Snap out of it Storm! This is Parker we are talking about!

“I’m fine.” 

Peter pulled their faces closer and before Johnny knew their lips were pressed together in a sweet kiss. Johnny's eyes are wide, unlike Peter’s fluttering shut. Peter’s hands slipped down his waist and pulled their bodies to be flushed against each other before forcing his tongue inside his mouth. Parker has always had his fair share of beautiful women by his side. It was always a mystery why they flocked to him but maybe Johnny was trying starting to get it if his moans weren’t enough to tell. Peter Parker had skills.

“So I was thinking,” Peter's fingers inched over to spread around Johnny’s rear and gave it a squeeze. It took everything in him not to squeal and push Parker off of him, “we could leave Benji at Aunt May for the night, grab some ‘Real’ Ray’s Pizza and …” Johnny sensed another kiss coming in this time and had ample time to prepare for a counterattack. He turned his face away and pressed a hand against Peter’s chest to keep the man from closing in on his limited personal space. 

“B-But Sue and Reed are coming tonight,” Johnny rushed out an excuse. 

“And?” 

“I need to talk to them.”

“About?” 

Why was he so pushy? Johnny hoped that Peter wasn’t the type that clung to their spouses and needed to know their every location. Sneaking around was going to be a hassle if that was the case.

“You know, stuff,” Johnny took a step back from Peter. “It’s really important superheroing stuff.” He was a superhero, there were tons of responsibilities that he’s sure Peter couldn’t understand. 

“So important that you can’t tell me.” Peter folded his arms and looked even more annoyed than before. What more did this guy want from him? He couldn’t go around spilling all the secrets of interdimensional travel even for his alternate universe’s poor choice of a husband. Parker’s suspicions were heightened and Johnny was scared that his cover was just about to be blown, when Benji came running in. Thank god for the little monster. He was safe again. 

* * *

He was not safe.

In fact, leaving the tower to go and converse with the people of this universe was the most dangerous thing that Johnny has ever done. Reed, Sue and Ben would have him by the neck if they discovered this. 

“I tried the Honey Lemon Chicken recipe you gave me but it tasted nothing like yours,” Aunt May, Peter’s aunt and the woman who raised him after he lost his parents, sat close to Johnny and continued the small talk since he had arrived with Peter. Johnny has met Aunt May a few times to his discovery but not enough times for her name to click. It was quite a shocker, to be honest. How was a guy like Peter raised by the angel, Aunt May? She was sweet, baked amazing cookies and had a sense of fashion. Then again, if Peter was married to alternate him and still couldn’t pick a decent shirt then he was a lost cause.

“It was delicious to me,” Jay, the current husband of Aunt May but not Peter’s Uncle, took a seat next to his wife. It was good that there were only three more people otherwise he would have had a greater chance of messing things up. 

Aunt May shook her head and sighed, “That’s because you haven’t had Johnny’s.” The problem was that they all acted like they’ve been best buddies for years. Act was the wrong word. They considered Johnny family and had years to bond. Only he wasn’t the Johnny that they all cared for and loved. He’s never traded a single recipe with Aunt May. He’s exchanged a few words with Mary-Jane during a few of his acting gigs, flirted with her once or twice but she’s always been professional. Never once could Johnny dream that she would fall over to his shoulder laughing and making inside jokes he should understand. This was the worst situation for any person stuck in a parallel universe. 

“I’m sure it tastes the same,” Johnny held his smile. 

“It doesn’t I wish I had you cooking for me every day, no wonder Pete is able to stay so plump.” It was easy to act around Aunt May and Jay. They were open about their thoughts and made easy conversation. It was Peter and Mary-Jane that had Johnny on his toes. Peter was an anomaly Johnny had given up trying to figure out years ago. Right now, he was occupied with Benji. Aunt May had treated her grandson to ice-cream. Every time Benji took a mouthful he would smear a bit of the frosty treat on his face. Peter was busy wiping Benji’s face every five seconds to focus on Johnny and any odd behaviour he may have shown. 

“Big upgrade from the Mexican takeout you ordered every night, huh Tiger?” Mary-Jane poked Peter in the stomach. 

“No judging my eating habits,” Peter nudged her in the shoulder.

“I should be concerned if you’re passing them down to my godson,” she looked down at Benji stuffing his face with another giant spoon of ice-cream.

“My son just has the palette of a New Yorker.” Benji held his head up high and eagerly nodded to his father’s words.

Mary-Jane rolled her eyes after Peter. In the little time he’s spent with the family it was clear to Johnny that Peter and Mary-Jane had a long history. Unlike him, Mary-Jane was able to hold her own against Peter’s sarcastic side comments. She would have an immediate comeback that always fell into a round of playful banter. His talkback to Peter was always weak. The photographer would catch him off guard with a clever retort that left Johnny in a loss of words and an embarrassing bumbling mess. Johnny understood how Peter dated a beauty like MJ. They synced so well together. They were best friends.

Yet, he was Peter’s husband. 

Johnny’s mouth fell into a straight line. He’s lost the thought that he was leading up to.

“Johnny?” A voice called and Johnny zoned back into the conversation. Everyone around the table was staring at him with troubled eyes. 

“ Still with us?” Mary-Jane placed her hand on his shoulder. 

Johnny couldn’t find it in him to appreciate the caring gesture. Slapping away her hand would raise too many eyebrows so Johnny swallowed his petty emotions back and continued, “Sorry, I’m just tired.” He scratched his cheek. 

“Do you want to take a rest upstairs dear?” Aunt May, the goddess, finally giving him a way out.

Dropping his shoulders and widening his blue eyes, he made sure to look pitiful as he said, “If you don’t mind.” It would be a shame not to take advantage of this escape route he was offered. 

* * *

  
Johnny was ushered into Peter’s old room to rest. Odd that he sought shelter in the lair of his worst enemy. He couldn’t wait for Sue and Reed to get back so he could escape from this nightmare. He was on the brink of setting that lovely husband of his on fire every time he saw him acting cozy with his ex-girlfriend. What was with that anyway? Johnny knows they were supposed to be childhood friends and all that shit but didn’t they look too close? It’s not that he was jealous. There was just concern for the Johnny of this universe and the faithfulness of his husband. That Parker wouldn’t dare to try anything after marrying someone of his status. The photography freak wasn’t that much of an idiot.

The door creaked open and Peter pushed his head in to check up on Johnny. “Hey, how are you feeling?” The brunette closed the door behind him. Johnny finally thought he had escaped the terror. After being so preoccupied with MJ, the last thing Johnny expected him to do was check-up on him.

“Fine, totally fine.” Johnny lifted his head off the pillow and mustered another smile. Peter's hand reached out his hand for his forehead. Once Johnny saw he immediately dodged away leaving Peter standing awkwardly in rejection. A minute or two passed before he retracted his hand. 

“You’ve been acting weird all day.” Peter started, “Are you mad at me?” 

“I’m not.”

“You look extra annoyed with me today.”

“You have a gift for that kind of thing.” Shit! He didn’t mean that. Well, he did, He didn’t mean to say it. The words left his tongue before he could think. He was accustomed to Peter’s quick thinking, he had to build some speed against that attitude. 

Peter sighed into his hand, “Okay, you’re mad, what did I do this time?” Well, that’s a shocker, it was routine for this idiot to get in trouble. This Johnny Storm really needs better taste in men. Who cared if he had the sculpted body of a god. Not this Johnny. Peter continued to prod for an answer, “Is this still about me using soap on your cast iron pot?”

The final nerve snapped inside Johnny, “You used soap on my cast iron!”

Peter snapped back at Johnny’s burst of anger. “Wait, did you forget about that, damn it.”

“You ruined my perfectly seasoned cast iron! Aren’t you a scientist!”

“I’m sorry okay, we can just buy a new one.”

“Buy a new one?! It’s a seasoned cast iron you don’t just-” It was hopeless, Johnny knows Peter enough to figure that the man doesn’t even know what a Sauté Pan looks like. He couldn’t expect that he would be smart enough to maintain a cast-iron skillet. 

“We talked about this already, I'll keep away from the expensive-looking stuff.” 

‘Just keep out of my kitchen.’ Johnny managed to hold back these words. His dream kitchen and it was already ruined because of-! Because of-! What does his other self see in this guy, he’s no better than his Peter!

“Is that it?” Johnny remained quiet and turned his head away. “Come on firefly talk to me,” Peter begged. The sadness in Peter’s voice stirred up some guilt inside Johnny. 

Peter was about to say something when his phone started beeping. He muttered something under his breath when he yanked the phone out of his pocket. “Shocker is robbing a bank in Times Square… again,” Peter continued to tap furiously at his phone. “How does this guy keep breaking out of jail? Would it kill him to get creative.”

Shocker? Such a B-lister. Johnny was in no mood to get in contact with anything possibly more annoying than Peter. It was better to limit him learning anything new about this world anyways. He’s sure Spidey will take care of it.   
.  
.  
.  
.  
Wait a minute. 

Spidey! 

How could he forget his web-slinging best friend! If Reed and Sue weren’t available then he could count on Spider-man to have his back. He was family. If anything, he may have Johnny back before Reed and Sue got back tonight. His one-way golden ticket out of this freak universe awaited him. If only he could find an excuse to disappear from this family gathering. Spider-man talked about the excuses he would have to make-up to go crime-fighting, but usually those stories ended up in him participating in a drag show or along the lines of those crazy things. Johnny didn’t need anything too crazy. In fact he was already a known superhero that had a job to fight supervillains and protect the public.

“Woah, supervillain,” Peter stared at him with a blank face, waiting for Johnny to go on. Was that not good enough? “I should go and do something about that.”

“Uhh, Johnny, isn’t that a little below your paygrade,” Peter raised an eyebrow at him. 

So maybe this Parker wasn’t a total idiot. “There are people in danger.” Peter looked even less convinced than before. “It’s just superhero business, okay.”

Peter face screwed from unconvinced to offended, “What’s that supposed to mean?” Now Johnny was at a loss. Parker didn’t think that just because he married into a famous superhero family like the Fantastic Four he was now a superhero? Sure, the man had been through some sticky situations. Years of taking risky photos durings superfights but being a participant in those fights was a different ballgame. He would need endurance, agility, brains, bravery and most important, powers! Before he could even consider standing next to the Fantastic Four in a photoshoot. 

Asshole, flirtatious and delusional, does the other Johnny know how to pick them or what? He didn’t have time to deal with this. Johnny hopped out the nearest window and flamed on. “ I’ll be back soon,” hopefully never! 

* * *

  
Police cars surrounded the bank. Officers armed and shielded behind their cars waiting for their target to step out. The doors blasted open, sending ruble and the police in the front flying backwards. A man in a black and yellow suit emerged from the wreckage carrying a bag of cash in his arm. The police all identified him as the deadly criminal, Shocker. They shot on sight, unleashing a rain of bullets onto him. Shocker raised his hand and sent out a shockwave ripping up pavement and police cars in its path. An unlucky officer found himself in the path of the blast and could only brace himself for the worse.

“Woah, that was close.” The officer slowly opened his eyes, surprised to find himself not buried under debris but floating several meters above it. The heat pressed against his back brought him out of his daze and he looked up to see the Human Torch. “You are one lucky dude, man.” Johnny set him down with some of the other officers in a safe zone and then proceeded to fly out to confront Shocker.

“What business does the Fantastic Four have down here?” Shocker searched around expecting The Thing, Invisible Woman or Mr.Fantastic to try and trap him but no one else came.

“Ah, it's just me today,” Johnny cleared up for Shocker. He tapped his chin and asked, “it’s Vibrator right?”

The block went silent at the Human Torch’s words. Under the mask, Shocker was left shocked at Johnny’s words and then the anger began to pour in. “Do I look like a vibrator?!” He blasted a shockwave at Johnny.

The blonde took a large step to the side and easily avoided the attack. He was drawing a blank to the supervillain's name despite just hearing it a few minutes ago. It wasn’t of importance to Johnny. So he continued on topic, “Any chance you’ve seen Spidey swinging around.”

“If that annoying bug knows what’s good for him he’ll stay away from-” A flash and blue and red swung in and kicked Shocker to the other side of the street. Johnny jaw went slack watching the character dressed up in the blue and red spider suit. The Spider-man in this universe looked cooler than his. 

“Herman! Buddy, I know you miss me but you can’t keep breaking out of jail like this, just send me your visiting hours and I’ll drop by to chat.”

“Spidey!” Johnny threw his hands around the masked vigilante and pulled him into a deep hug. It was the first familiar face he’s seen since getting tossed into this nightmare. “It's so good to see you.”

Johnny could feel Spider-man stiffen in his hold. “Johnny are you sick?” 

“Wait are we not best friends here?”

“Best Friends?” Spider-man started, “I would hope we are a little more than best friends.”

“Oh thank god,” relief washed over him. He would have burst into tears if the case was otherwise. “Don’t scare me! Like being married to Parker wasn’t weird enough,” 

“Wha-arrghh!” Spider-man flew to the left after a direct hit with one of shocker’s attacks. Johnny watched Shocker chase after the webhead with vengeance. He’s sure Spidey has it. “Johnny I think we need to get you to Reed’s lab.” Finally, someone on the same page with him.

He flew over to the fight, hovering close enough for Spidey to talk but far enough to keep himself from getting involved. He watched from the side as a symphony of webs and shockwaves laid ruin to the sidewalk. “No shit! I’ve been trying to contact Sue and Reed all morning to fix this!”

“You have a husband at your every beck and call!” Spider-man dodged another attack from Shocker. He shot a web at a large piece of a building that had broken off, and swung it to hit Shocker directly. The villain was thrown off balance and Spider-man took the chance. He swooped in and delivered a solid right hook to Shocker. 

“Don’t even mention him!” Johnny continued regardless of Spider-man’s intense battle. 

“Huh?” Spider-man took his eyes off of Shocker to the flaming man above him. Shocker didn’t waste a moment and angle his gauntlets to send Spider-man flying into the next building

“I don’t even want to think about him right now!” Johnny set down to his feet and flamed off, still caught up in his own drama. 

Shocker looked ready to make a run when Spider-man kicked a large piece of concrete wall out. “That’s it we are talking right now!”Shocker flinched at the glare the hero sent him from across the street and on instinct started to run with the bag of cash. Using his webs Spidey quickly catapulted himself towards Shocker and tackled him into the ground. “Dammit Herman, you picked the worst day to rob a bank.” Without a moment’s hesitation he wrapped Shocker in a cocoon, his arms and legs now immobile and even his mouth webbed shut. “You know what, how about you do me a favor and stay in jail. I'll come visit you every Friday.” Spider-man left Shocker hanging from a light post right next to the police to arrest him.

Spider-man finally swung over to Johnny, ready to unleash hell when the blonde attacked him with his signature sunshine smile, “I knew if there was anyone in the universe I could trust it would be you.”

“I.. am so confused,” Spider-man shoulders slumped, “just tell me what to do at this point. I’ll do it. Just forgive me please.” 

Johnny didn’t focus on Spider-man’s turmoil, he got straight to the point “I need you to send me home,”

“Not what I was expecting to hear.”

“Spidey, I’m not Johnny or I’m not your Johnny, I don’t know how I got here but I’m stuck in your universe and I need you to send me home.”

Spidey remained silent as he repeated Johnny’s words in his head. Slowly the lines in the mask became serious and finally a deadpan, “That’s a problem.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry this one took so long. I've had a hard time sorting out the details and sitting down to write but the story will go on! But Spider-man knows now! Shenanigans are guaranteed. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Remember to comment and leave those kudos


	3. Married to your Nemesis

Spider-man was a complete and utter traitor and could not be trusted. Otherwise, why would he immediately inform Peter about the dilemma after dropping off at the Baxter Building, the one person he’s been trying to keep in the dark. His own best friend, from an alternate universe, sold him out to the husband! ‘The one person he could count on’ his ass! The bug was shady and a snitch. 

But despite the disapproval of his bug buddy’s decisions, Peter wasn’t as useless as Johnny thought he would be. He contacted Sue and Reed as soon as he got the news. All it took were the words ‘Emergency involving Johnny’ before Sue put an early end to their family vacation and went speeding back home. Johnny was in a chair after running several tests with Reed. He and Peter were deep in their discussion, throwing around lots of big science-y words Johnny didn’t understand. Ben was in the background listening to Peter's and Reed’s back and forth, reminding them to speak English now and again. While Sue stuck to him like glue. She hasn’t left his side since she returned. At least some things never changed no matter which universe or time.

Reed looked at the scans he took of Johnny earlier and shook his head.“I don’t see anything wrong,” His neck stretched up to the screen reading the massive amount of data. “Everything looks completely normal.”

Peter muttered something under his breath and spun to face Reed, “Maybe we missed something, we could run over everything again, double-check the results, run some other tests. There must be something we can do, something to find the cause of ‘this’.” Peter gestured to all of Johnny. The blonde raised an eyebrow at his ‘husband’. “I didn’t mean it like that,” Peter quickly blurted when he saw the frown forming on Johnny’s face. “It’s just that if this is what we think it is and I am fairly sure it is-”

“Having the physical body traveling in the time-space continuum is one thing but displacing the conscious mind-“ Reed continued.

“We didn’t even know that was possible!”

Ben sighed and looked over to the Storm siblings, “Did either of ya catch any of that gibberish?”

“Nope,” Johnny shook his head.

Sue shrugged, “The gist of it, I think.”

“I hate to say this,” Reed took a deep breath in. “But I think we may need Strange’s help with this one.”

“I was hoping it wouldn’t come to that.” Johnny could guess that Peter had as much aversion to magic as Reed and Spidey from his enthusiastic reaction. Did all science nerds hate magic? It did go against every law of their natural world. It was impressive enough for Reed to surrender this problem to Dr. Strange. 

“If Johnny’s shift here really was caused by the spell he got hit with then it's safe to say that we are dealing with magic.” Reed’s body shrunk back to normal and then huffed, “I’m a scientist, magic is outside my level of expertise.”

Peter fell into the chair, “Strange is out until next week.” Peter knew Dr. Strange? Even though the photographer was married to his alternate self and superhero family that was still weird. Not even the Fantastic Four were close enough to keep tabs on Dr. Strange. It was rare to find someone who could. Maybe Spidey, he had a knack for attracting the weirdest people in the superhero circle.

“Doing what?” Sue asked. Well, if Sue wasn’t questioning it then maybe it was normal for Peter Parker to have Dr. Strange on his contact list.

“Something about preventing our reality from collapsing,” Peter rubbed his eyes. Johnny’s back immediately straightened up and raised his eyebrows. Their reality was collapsing?

“Well, I guess we’ll just have to wait until next week.” Reed continued to tap away at his computer.

“If our reality still exists,” Peter shrugged. Johnny wasn’t into sticking around in a universe that may or may not exist in a week. Already bad enough he was married to Parker.

“In the meantime.” Everyone's eyes had turned to Johnny.

“I’ll keep him isolated.” Peter was the first one to volunteer.

Johnny folded his arms as if to show his defiance to the mere thought and then shot Peter with a glare.“I don’t need you babysitting me.” 

“Yeah sure.” He scoffed and the corners of his mouth turned up into some self-righteous smirks. Always looking down on him

Johnny’s hands balled into tight fists. The tips of his hair burning with a light flame. “I was doing fine without you!”

“Should we count how many rules you broke?” 

“That wasn’t my fault, it was yours!” He jabbed a finger in Peter’s direction

“Mine?!” Peter had a hand on his chest looking indignant at Johnny’s accusation. Sue, Ben, and Reed all exchanged looks with each other and made themselves small in this confrontation. 

“I wouldn’t have left that room if you hadn’t taken me to brunch with your Aunt May!”

“Maybe I wouldn’t have taken you if you had just told me the truth in the first place!”

“And why would I do that?” 

“Husband! Remember, me!” Peter threw his hands up into the air, all his frustration bursting out with them. “Guy you’ve been married to for the past ten years! Him! Me!”

“Look, I don’t know how to break it to you but the last time I saw Parker in my universe he was shooting me with another on his dumbass snarky insults,” he rolled his eyes.“The guy hates me and the feeling is mutual.” 

“Are you sure you didn’t do something to the poor guy?” Ben smirked.

“I’m pretty sure the bastard wants to ruin my life so I’m sorry I ran off to Spidey with the first chance I got.” Johnny folded his arms and sulked into his seat, “With Sue and Reed gone, he’s the only person I could trust.”

The room went silent. Peter’s mouth hung open and his eyes wide. He placed his hand on his head and breathed out and looked ready to say something and then stopped. 

“Wow,” Sue breathed out.

“I mean,” Ben nodded towards her.

“Frustrating right!” Reed threw his arms up. 

“I did always wonder what it was like.”

Peter stalked out of the room but not without a long line of frustrated murmurs under his breath.

* * *

  
  


Despite Reed’s resignation on magic he still kept looking into the matter. Their Johnny possibly displaced somewhere in the multiverse wasn’t something they could easily sleep on. It was easily agreed that Johnny would be sleeping with Sue and Reed especially since Ben had taken over Johnny’s previous room after he moved into the condo below. So Johnny was pushed to the couch. Granted his back hurt after being subjected to its torture but body aches were easier to deal with than sitting in a lonely room far away from his sister. He preferred to stick closest to the things that made sense. Even seeing Franklin and Val as teenagers was easier to wrap around his mind than the ring sitting snug on his finger. He had tried to erase all previous events. Cough it up as a joke or a bad dream when he got home. However, the peace and quiet was his enemy. With everyone else gone about their busy super lives and his choice of entertainment limited thanks to his sister and brother-in-law, he was forced to find some means of occupying himself before dying of boredom, his thoughts. He didn’t like it very much but it was all he was able to think about. Seriously, he and Peter Parker? Peter Parker and him? How did it go from exchanging insults to exchanging vows? Did other Johnny ask Peter out? Where did they gon on their first date? What did other Johnny love about Peter?

What did Peter love about Johnny?

He couldn’t think of any satisfying answers while the hours passed away. They survived ten years of marriage and a kid so there must be something.

Johnny furrowed his eyebrows when a head with sandy hair peeked behind the door. “Benji?”

“Daddy!” Feet scurried across the floor towards him. Having the small child jump into his arms brought a range of conflicting emotions inside him. On one hand, this kid was adorable after obviously inheriting the best of the Storm features; how could one resist his blue puppy eyes. On another, Benji was running with a giddy smile to greet his Dad and Johnny was not him. 

“Daddy?” Benji lifted his head off of Johnny’s lap, “Are you still sick?” Sick? Is that what Parker told him. “Papa said you were sick so you couldn’t come home.” Tiny hands fisted into Johnny’s pants. 

“Well I’m a little sick,” Johnny ran his fingers through the soft curls of the boy’s head. That’s what Sue did when he was scared, “but I’ll get better.”

“Then can you come home?”

“Well…” That was a difficult request to fulfill. 

“Please, I miss you,” Benji cuddled deeper into his chest and Johnny’s heart broke. Still, he’s been avoiding Parker for days; he couldn’t 

“And-” 

“What’s wrong?”

Benji choked out a sob, “Papa is cooking.”

Maybe he should check in downstairs just for a minute. 

  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


The kitchen wasn’t on fire to Johnny’s surprise. It was just filled with smoke after Peter burned the toast. He coughed, fanning the smoke away from himself and then tossing the black squares into the garbage. Ruining a cast-iron pot was something every rookie cook could make but even they could manage to cook up a decent breakfast. Yet from stories of Peter’s graduate days, Johnny had an inkling that the kitchen was outside Peter’s expertise. Maybe he would be able to whip up some greasy eggs and bacon with slightly burnt toast but Benji was raised on Johnny’s cooking. And if Johnny knew himself then he knew this kid was only served the best dishes from the expert chef himself. Peter’s cute attempt at a breakfast sampler wouldn’t cut it for his tastebuds. 

“Need help?” Johnny was satisfied to finally see Parker out of his depth. The stupid glare on his face was taking all the fun out it though. 

Peter’s head snapped to his son, “Benji, what did I tell you about your Father?” Johnny huffed with not even an acknowledgment from him.

Benji hid behind Johnny’s leg, “But Daddy said he’s feeling better.”

“He won’t get better down here.” The little boy hugged Johnny’s leg tighter, cowering under his father but remaining just as stubborn. 

Johnny decided to intervene between them. “It’s fine I choose to come.”

Peter’s glare sharpened after him and he spoke between clenched teeth, “Not helping.” 

Johnny held back the urge to roll his eyes and turned to Benji, “Sweetie, how about you go sit down while Daddy shows Papa how to cook.”

“What are you doing here?” Peter hissed. Johnny sauntered into the kitchen ignoring the grinch chasing behind him. 

“Your son came to find me,” Johnny shrugged taking glances of the ingredients on the shelves, “the poor kid came looking on his deathbed saying ‘Papa is cooking’” He opened the double doors of the refrigerator, with a list of dishes to make already on the top of his head.

Peter frown faltered, “I can cook breakfast!” 

“Uh-huh.” Like that was going to convince him.

“I’m an adult, who by the way supported myself through grad school.”

“Living off of overnight Mexican takeout.”

Peter’s face into a long silence before declaring, “I can cook!”

“The bacon is burning.” Johnny gave a nod to the smoking pan.

“Woah!” The pan was rushed off the stove but it was all futile. World-class food experts would mistake the meat for charcoal. The rebuttal argument was weak with the evidence right in front of them. The blonde placed a hand on his him and started, “Listen how about I whip up some stuffed French toast for everyone that we could have with your burnt bacon.”

“It’s not burnt, it's crispy!”

“Get out of my kitchen Parker.” He gave Parker the boot. 

  
  


* * *

Benji’s face nearly split in two when Johnny placed down a plate of creamy scrambled eggs and french toast. Even the black bacon on the side could faze his mood. Peter’s grumpy face eased once he saw the plate of food in front of him. He took up his knife and fork and ate silently.

This man was stubborn. 

Johnny had no doubts the food was better than anything Peter could cook on his best day but the man just had to sit there and eat with a straight face as if to prove a point. Meanwhile, Benji had his cheeks stuffed with French Toast, chewing with a giddy smile. The other Johnny must have cooked for this kid every day but he ate like someone who’s never had a good meal. Was this the power behind Peter’s cooking? Now that he looked closer at Peter, the corner’s of his mouth was trembling. Could the man not be honest with his feelings?

“What did you guys eat last night?”

“Pizza!”

“And lunch?”

“Pizza!”

“And yesterday’s breakfast was?”

“It was delicious!” Peter intervened. Although Benji’s ugly expression told another story.

“Maybe I should stay for lunch.” Before this world’s Johnny come back to a tragedy, a son with food trauma and a husband without his golden abs. 

“Yay!” Of course, Benji was the first to agree

“You don’t need to, you’re still sick remember.” And Parker had to be the party-pooper

“I’ll just make lunch.”

“No, you don-” There was a loud beep. Peter pulled out his phone and groaned under his breath. His eyes shot between Johnny and the phone. He shook his head and shot out of his seat, “I’ll be back in fifteen minutes, just stay right here!”

“I literally cannot even step outside.”

Ignoring Johnny’s words he turned towards his, “Hey, buddy remember that game we talked about?”

“Mhm,” Benji nodded.

“Game starts now,” Peter kissed him on the forehead. He turned about to do the same to Johnny until blown blue eyes caused him to freeze. Peter straightened his back, “I’m gonna go.”

“Yeah.” Peter sprinted out the door, without a chance to hear his husband’s reply. Johnny’s eyes remained trained on the door. That was weird, Peter barely touched his breakfast before running out. Benji didn’t look concerned with anything other than his breakfast so maybe it was just another one of Parker’s weird things. 

He was about to kiss him though. Parker was aiming to steal one off his lips back there. Johnny didn’t think he was the domestic type. Kisses his kids on the forehead and his husband every day before heading to work. It was a beautiful picture. Does he give a kiss when he gets home from work? Not that Johnny would want a kiss! He was just curious. And that kiss from back then wasn’t so bad. His experience at least backed his skills. 

Not that he was thinking about it! Johnny knocked out of his thoughts and focused on finishing his meal.

  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


By the time Peter came back Johnny had finished eating, washed up the dishes, and settled down with Benji in front of the TV. Peter looked around the room for any signs of fire or disaster but was even more surprised to find everything just the same. Johnny was insulted. He babysat his niece and nephew and one is an alpha-level mutant and the other is a super-genius. He can handle this. Peter took a seat on the couch not far from Johnny. Benji’s eyes glued to the TV. Discovery Channel did wonders for this kid.

“What do you want for lunch?” Johnny asked without a glance at Peter.

“Don’t worry about lunch, I’ll make it.” 

“I’m sure your Johnny wouldn’t be pleased hearing Benji ate pizza for lunch and dinner two days in a row.” Peter flinched back and went pale. Bullseye.

“I can order plenty of other dishes for takeout.”

“And anything I make will be significantly better.”

“You-”

“I lied, I already planned to make avocado toast.”

“What’s your deal?” Peter ducked closer to him and whispered.

“If you hate avocado toast I can make something else,” Johnny shrugged. The kitchen was stocked that he could improvise with whatever idea that popped into his head.

“I’m not talking about the food; I mean being here.”

“Benji asked me.”

“Oh, so all of a sudden you’re comfortable being around Benji?”

Johnny furrowed his eyebrows, “ Why would I be uncomfortable around Benji? He’s adorable.”

Peter's mouth fell open and continued, “Then I’m the only-” he pointed at himself before pushing back to his spot on the couch. “Unbelievable.” He folded his arms and grumbled. Parker didn’t look to have given up one the issue but it didn’t matter. His phone alarmed again and Peter rushed out on an emergency before Johnny could start lunch.

  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


Johnny was now finishing off dinner and Peter still wasn’t back yet. He tasted the sauce and took it off the stove. Benji was playing in the living room with a play chemistry set where Johnny could see him. Maybe he should give Parker a call. It was getting late, maybe he should start dinner without him. The front door opened and Benji hopped up and ran in the direction. “Don’t run,” Johnny warned him before following behind him. Maybe he would stay to finish his meal this time. Peter barely ate breakfast and never ate lunch. He wondered if he grabbed a snack after. He should be starving.

“Aunty MJ!” Johnny froze at the name. Benji ran into the actresses welcoming arms. Her eyes traveled up to the flaming superhero in front of her. 

“Johnny?” she furrowed her eyebrows after the blonde.

“MJ?” Johnny's heart leaped in his chest. In this world, he and MJ looked close like they were real friends. It was rare in the clique of famous friends he already had. Actors and models weren’t driven by altruism like superheroes. They were fun but if you stood in the way of an opportunity or their fame they wouldn’t hesitate to bare their fangs. But, MJ seemed like a great person he grabbed a coffee with and just talked. It must have been great for other Johnny but bad for him. Anyone close to Johnny was bound to pick-up a few things wrong. And then, there was a growing discomfort being with her. Just looking at her Johnny felt uneasiness brewing inside him. 

He was ready to put on his ‘Other Johnny Storm’ act with another 100 excuses to avoid conversation when Peter walked in behind MJ. “Johnny?” 

“Peter.” Of course, Parker had something to do with this. What was the guy doing bringing other people here? It was against protocol. Did Reed not show him the slideshows? More importantly, why did he bring Mary-Jane out of all people? The three of them stood there waiting for someone to explain the situation they all landed in. 

“Benji!” Benji threw his hands. His excitement cut through the awkward silence. Everyone turned their heads to the small boy and he shrugged, “Aren’t we calling names?” He tipped his head after the adults. Peter and Mary-Jane burst into laughter. Johnny was the odd man left out. Benji’s adorable presence couldn’t break the weird feeling sitting on his chest. He hated seeing Peter and Mary-Jane together. Looking like a perfect family with Benji beside them. Just so…

Johnny lost his thought again. 

Peter whispered something to Mary-Jane before she took Benji away leaving him and Peter alone. “Johnny, you’re still here?” 

“Where was I supposed to go? Do you eat dinner elsewhere?”

“You made dinner?”

Johnny missed the hungry eyes looking over at the food on the stove. He was instead focused on the red-head playing with Benji on the other side of the room, “I thought you had an emergency.”

Peter straightened up at the snap. “I did, it’s over now.”

“Oh, will she be staying for dinner?” 

“Yeah MJ is going to watch over Benji for the night.”

“Why does she need to babysit Benji?”

“I can’t leave Benji alone?”

“Why would he be alone?” Johnny folded his arms, “Where are you running off to in the middle of the night?”

“I have this thing okay.”

“What thing?”

“Do we need to go into detail about this?”

Okay fine, interdimensional travel rules. Limited information but, “She doesn’t need to babysit Benji, I’m here.”

“You’re staying here tonight?”

“What’s with that look?” Johnny hopped up offended. 

“Well, I’m sorry, just a few days ago you couldn’t stand being in the same space as me.” He threw up his hands at the blonde.

“Circumstances changed, Benji.”

“Don’t worry about Benji, he’ll be in bed soon.” Peter sighed. “MJ an expert at handling Benji so you don’t need to be here, you can head upstairs and relax or something.” Johnny’s mind had cut off half of Peter’s sentence. Focusing down on ‘you don’t need to be here’ and translating it to ‘we don’t need you here’ then playing it on a loop in his head. The words cut deeper than they should have especially from someone he didn’t want to acknowledge. But they went through faster than a hot knife and burned in the most vulnerable of places. 

“Johnny?!” Peter chased after Johnny marching outside to the balcony “Where are you going?!”

“Why do you care? You don’t need me here anyways!” He flamed-on and took off into the night sky. Peter continued to call after him while Johnny flew further and further away; where Peter couldn’t reach him.

  
  


* * *

  
  


The view from the statue of liberty looked the same in this universe. He appreciated that this world was similar to his, he could sometimes trick himself that he was home with his family, back with his friends, where everything was how it should be. Spidey would come swinging in with hotdogs and he would be subjected to another lesson from the hotdog connoisseur. 

_Thwip Thwip_

He hoped that some things never changed in the other universes.

Spider-man landed on the statue just a few feet away from Johnny’s. “Oh, look who decides to drop by, the sellout!” He wasn’t going to let the bug have it that easy after he gave him into Parker.

“Trust me on this you weren’t going to survive a day with that act of yours,” Spidey dropped next to Johnny“Not telling Peter was a disaster waiting to happen.”

“He and his family were pretty sold with my acting skills, I would say I would at least last a week.” While faking sick. If there was one thing Johnny knew it was playing sick. He had a pretty good faint spell up his arsenal too.

“And how were you planning on dealing with your husband and his needs?” The tiny lift in Johnny’s mood went sour again at the mention of Parker’s name. 

“By not dealing with it.”

“Great plan, I could see that ending well for you,”

“Are you just here to annoy me because Parker has already taken that role so there is no need for your presence.” He didn’t want to be reminded of the very thing he was trying to avoid.

Spider-man’s shoulders sagged, “Do you hate him that much?”

Johnny faced what was probably the closest thing to a friend he had in this universe for the first time since they met. Spidey’s voice sounded calm but that small crack he concealed wouldn’t escape Johnny’s ears. “No, I don’t,” Johnny rushed out and paused. He tried again, “I think I don’t.” That didn’t feel right either. “ I mean,” he took a breath. “I don’t know what I feel towards him.” The emotions that erupted each time he saw Peter were intense yet it wasn’t hate. Annoyance, yes, was present in that bundle of unknown. “He just always manages to get under my skin. He’s always looking down on me!” Spider-man remained silent. “I mean sure he’s smarter,” keeping with Reed and nerding out in the lab, “and a bit funny,” even if they were lame jokes, “and okay maybe have a few good witty comments,” with a smart comment always on his tongue, “and thinks he so cute with that arrogant grin of his and-”

“You think he’s cute?”Spider-man interrupted Johnny’s rant

“What? No! Where did you get that from?!”

“You said he was cute.”

“I said he thinks that he’s cute.”

“But you wouldn’t think that unless you thought he was cute.” The bug-hero pointed a finger a Johnny

“That’s beside the point!” The flames lite up on the tips of the blonde’s hair.

“Okay,” Spidey held his hands up in surrender, “okay, hot stuff, cool down.” Johnny knew that he didn’t believe him but Spidey was stubborn. It was a losing battle he’ll end up facing if he kept going. “Look,” Spidey started, “I think you just got off on the wrong foot with Peter.”

“For years?”

“He doesn’t look down on you trust me, the guy knew he was pitching outside his league when he asked you to marry him.”

“R-Really?”Johnny has seen the kind of people that hang around Peter. They were all beautiful and successful in their way. It was difficult seeing the truth in that statement. 

“I know he’s not the easiest person to live with at times,” he scratched his chin, “but he’s crazy about you, just give him a chance.”

Johnny dropped his head. Maybe he was right. This world wasn’t his. This Spider-man wasn’t his. Even Sue, no matter how similar she was, wasn’t his. So, this Peter Parker wasn’t his. No matter how similar things looked here, they were different. Johnny could accept that. 

* * *

  
  


Johnny landed on the balcony. After clearing his head, he was finally ready to face Peter and the mess he left back here. He slid the door open and looked around for anyone inside. Immediately there was a soft click at the front door and Parker Peter walked in. 

“Peter,” Johnny said softly. He glanced behind the mn but saw no signs of MJ following behind him.

“Johnny, you’re back.” he stepped closer, almost hesitating to inch even closer. 

The atmosphere was heavy, just as you would expect after a big fight. Johnny tried to break the ice, “Don’t worry, I was with Spider-man.” 

“Oh.”

“You don’t look surprised.” he raised an eyebrow.

“Well, he kind of told me.” Peter scratched his chin.

“Of course he did,” That would explain why he wasn’t chased by the Fantastic Four rescue squad and dragged back. Leaving this place was already a major offense to the rules. “Anyway, Spidey has convinced me that maybe we got off on the wrong foot so if you want I guess we could try and start over.”

“Yeah, sure let’s do that. Start over.” 

Really? That was it. Johnny had a whole speech prepared in his head. No questions? No talk? Nothing. It was that easy? “Good.”

“Good.” It was that easy. 

Without anything left to say Johnny grabbed at the first conversation topic that popped in his head.“Where’s MJ and Benji?” There was suddenly a loud cry coming in the direction of Benji’s room and Peter sighed into his hand.

  
  


* * *

  
  
  


Three days ago Johnny couldn’t even stand the thought of looking at Peter but it hasn’t even been a week and now he was sleeping in his bed. “Well, this bed is way comfier than the couch.”

“I’m glad one of us is happy,” Peter grumbled from the ground, fluffing his pillow for the fourth time tonight. After Benji had witnessed their little spat he had concluded that something was wrong with his parents. It took multiple assurances from him and Peter to stop crying and then a promise that Johnny wouldn’t leave for the night. Hence, Johnny being stuck here for the night and Peter sleeping on the floor. “Not to rub it in but this is mostly your fault, should have just left me with Benji until he was ready to sleep.”

“I thought we were starting over,” the brunette grumbled.

“Right, sorry.”

Johnny laid there in silence, waiting for sleep to take him over and rescue him from this situation. Then Peter asked, “This isn’t too uncomfortable for you right?”

He shook his head, “I told you Benji’s adorable why would I be uncomfortable around him.” Plus it was Peter on the floor, not him. 

“I’m not talking about Benji.” Oh. 

“Wait,” Johnny sprung up, “Is that why you wanted me to leave?”

“I didn’t want you to leave.” Peter frowned at his words, “I thought you were forcing yourself for Benji’s sake.”

“You were being considerate of me?”

“Why do you sound surprised?”

“Didn’t know you were capable of consideration, towards me at least.” 

Peter propped up on his elbow and huffed, “Wow, I sure am a saint in your eyes.”

“Hey, starting over, no sarcasm.” 

“Sorry, hot stuff but sarcasm comes with the whole Peter Parker package,” Peter gestured to himself. 

Johnny wondered if Parker knew he was hot wearing that smug grin. He had to quickly distract himself from thinking back to those abs.“I can see how you and Spidey are best of friends I bet you two just exchange lame jokes with each other when you meet up,”

“Guilty, I’m the inspiration for all his good commentary.”

“That explains everything.”

They fell into a more comfortable silence. He was lost on where he stood with Peter now. They weren’t enemies but it wasn’t quite right to call him a friend. Still, he was something. He just hasn’t figured out the right label for him. Johnny didn’t want to think about it now. Tomorrow he’ll be living his life as another Johnny Storm.

  
  
  
  


**Extra**

“So, Benji did you-”

“I’m a hundred percent biologically male, flamebrain.”

“Then did-”

“So are you.”

“Then how-”

“Good night Johnny.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me walking by: And then they were roommates
> 
> Sorry, it took so long to get this out. It really took me many months to write this and it was frustrating. But I'm not giving up on this story so be patient with me. I hope you guys like this chapter. I currently don't have a beta because they are busy. Hopefully, I can clean up everything when I do but for now, we die like men!
> 
> So comment away!


	4. The Other Johnny Storm - Part 1

Johnny had already concluded that his ‘son’ was a nerd. A giant one that read encyclopedias for fun, loved watching Discovery channel and laughed at Reed and Peter’s science jokes. Now, Johnny knew he was dealing with less of an average nerd and more of a genius nerd. Not Reed and Val super genius but definitely a genius. Smart for his own age at least. The initial plan was to continue as they were. Johnny making meals and keeping Benji company. A personal chef/babysitter free of charge. Pretending to be a loving husband and father for a few days longer shouldn’t have made a difference. If only Benji hadn’t witnessed their spat. A switch flipped in the kid and Peter and Johnny have been on edge since.

The table had been divided in two. Benji seated on one side and his parents on the other facing him.“Come on, buddy, it’s one of your favorites, grilled cheese.” Peter pushed the peace-offering forward to rest in front of the boy. The blue eyes looked down at the golden sandwich and then up at his smiling fathers. Johnny has done his best to put together a usual dish the other ‘Johnny’ would make. Reed barring him from his Instagram and every other social media didn’t make it easier on him. He was going off the few photos he snuck a peek at and Peter’s memory. The result was grilled cheese, using French bread, of course, and gruyere cheese with prosciutto. Cooked in a cast iron to ensure the cheese is perfectly melted. A simple dish, something he would be able to make in his sleep. So, why did Johnny feel that his entire Instagram chef career was on the line for this?

Benji picked up the first half of the sandwich and took a bite. The crease in between his brows increased as he chewed. “Something wrong?” Johnny straightened in his chair.

First, the small boy swallowed and then separated the bread to view the contents of the sandwich. “No apples.” Coldwater washed over Johnny. Just like the blueberry sauce for the pancakes, Johnny has missed another quirk of Benji’s that the other Johnny would know.

Peter went in for damage control, “Daddy must have forgotten the apples.” 

Peter sucked at damage control.

“Daddy never forgets the apples.” he stressed on ‘never’ causing Peter to stumble back in his words. 

“Don’t eat that,” Johnny took the sandwich and pushed it to Peter. “I’ll go make you another one.” He ran to the kitchen away from those eyes.

“No, come on this sandwich is fine, see,” Peter took a bigger bite and moaned. “It’s great.” Another important matter caused him to miss breakfast. Johnny suspects this could be the brunette’s first meal of the day. Peter took three more bites before the first half of the sandwich was done. “You know what, make another one.” He grabbed the second half of the sandwich and followed Johnny into the kitchen.

“Apples you forgot to tell me apples,” he hissed under his breath as he cut the very fruit into thin slices.

“Who puts fruit in a grilled cheese anyway?” he whispered-shouted back. 

“Lots of people, The sweetness of the apple complements the gruyere cheese and adds a twist to the sandwich.” It made for a delicious snack. Chefs used the idea all the time to enhance their dishes' flavor. Not that he expected a failing cook like Parker to know that. He thought it was better to play safe but palette of a New Yorker his ass. The kid obviously had cultured taste buds, no doubt the work of other Johnny. 

“It's grilled cheese, its two slices of bread and a slice of American cheese, not this.”

Johnny raised an eyebrow, “You seem to be enjoying that.”

“This,” Peter held up, “is gooey cheese heaven with bacon.”

“Prosciutto.”

“Fancy bacon.”

Johnny rolled his eyes and cut two slices of bread. “Well, we are going to need to remember apples if we are going to get through your son.”

“Oh, so when he’s adorable he’s your son but when he’s going all Nick Fury, he’s my son.” 

A loud slurp came from behind them. The last of the apple juice in the Spider-man mug being slurped up by Benji as he watched them with an unimpressed stare. Johnny snaps his head away as soon as they make eye contact. “Do you think he knows?” Knows that he isn’t ‘Johnny’. Just some alternate universe stranger filling his Dad’s shoes until he can get home. 

“No, he just thinks we’re fighting.” Johnny tried to take Peter’s reassurance but it didn’t help. He didn’t like that look in Benji’s eyes, just waiting for one of them to crack. He wants back the adorable kid that would give him bear hugs and love his attention. 

“Hey,” Ben strolled into the kitchen, “I went and let myself in since no one answers a door in this house.” 

“You have hands don’t you,” Johnny waved him off. The relationship between him and his family, or this world’s version of them, felt the same. He could even mistake it for his own if he ignored the wrinkles and the grays growing in Sue and Reed’s hair. 

Ben grumbled something under his breath and took a seat at the table, “Hey, squirt.”

“Hey, Uncle Ben,” Benji hopped down from his seat and headed out.

“Benji, what about lunch.” Johnny’s head went back and forth between the boy and the pan. 

“I’m not hungry.”

“How long is he going to be mad at us?” 

“Well, he thinks we are hiding something from him and he hates that so until he thinks we are not.”

“But you are hiding something from him.” Johnny huffed, he had the urge to bar the fridge that the unhelpful set of rocks was so eagerly searching though. But, today he had more pressing issues than making Ben’s life miserable. His bitching took top priority.

Johnny rolled his eyes. “He’s almost as bad a Spidey.”

Peter popped up in interest, “Spider-man?”

“The guy is terrifying when he’s mad, those bug eyes piercing through your soul, and when he goes silent, trust me nothing is scarier than a Spider that has learnt to shut up.”

“Won’t argue with that.” 

Johnny missed the smirk Ben threw over at Peter and continued. “Does Spidey babysit? We leave him to babysit, don't we, he’s obviously rubbing off on Benji.”

“Just give us a few more years sparky, you’ll be hearing those bad jokes rolling out of Benji’s mouth.”

“Oh, the horror.”

“Hey, you laugh at Spider-man’s jokes all the time,” A little pout formed on Peter's lips. 

“Yeah, that’s different.” He’s been caught up in that web since his teens.

“Sparky’s right it doesn’t count.” And of course, everyone in an alternate universe knew it too. Was he really that obvious? A sudden thought popped up in Johnny’s head. “Sorry, are you the inspiration for the terrible puns.”

“As a matter of fact I am and my husband appreciates my comedy,” Parker announced with his hands on his hips. 

“You do realize that as your husband he has an obligation to laugh at your jokes.” Just like how he laughed at Spidey’s. 

Peter leaned into Johnny. Their faces inches from each other, if he leaned any further their noses would touch. Johnny's breath stopped when Peter’s brown eyes locked onto his. That annoying confident smile sitting lazily on his lips. More annoying that Johnny was finding it increasingly hot. “I’m going to ignore that seeing that as my current husband you have an obligation to keep me believing that I am funny.” If Peter had kissed him like the first day he arrived Johnny was sure he would return it more eagerly. 

Peter’s phone alarmed breaking whatever mood had formed between them. He sighed, “Gotta go help Reed out in the lab, be back for dinner.” Johnny nodded and returned his attention to the sandwich that was just a few seconds away from burning. Peter eyed the hot grilled cheese on the plate. “Can I?”

“Knock yourself out.” Johnny shrugged. Benji had already made it clear he had no intention of joining them for lunch. Peter grabbed the sandwich and bolted out the door. 

“You mind?” Johnny jumped at Ben’s voice. He’s forgotten that he had company. The man had a few ingredients packed out on the counter and he was waiting for Johnny to move to start cooking. He quickly moved to give Ben way. He regretted not giving the man at least one snarky comment since this was technically his kitchen. The look on Ben’s face made him feel conscious. Too similar to his Ben and the face he made when he was around a certain bug-themed superhero. 

“So how long are you going to be with me today?” He found a new subject.

“Until dinner.” Johnny was permitted to move freely around the building. Between his home, Sue’s and Reed Lab but never any further. Still, he rarely ever left the home looking after Benji, cooking meals and looking for any piece of entertainment that Reed hasn’t censored out. Still, it was decided that he should be monitored as closely as possible. When Peter wasn’t around, Ben, Sue and Reed would take turns watching over him. Well, Ben and Sue since getting Reed to leave his lab was another battle. 

“What are you going to do about that?” Ben nodded to a spot behind Johnny.

The blonde spun on his toes and saw ahead of light brown hair peeking out from behind a wall. The little boy ducked back when he met eyes with Johnny. 

Right, the genius son who hated him. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


It’s barely been a week but Johnny felt that he was qualified to join a parenting support group. The more he pushed the more he felt Benji tried to put space between them. He always had a suspicious look on his face when Johnny was around and didn’t entertain any conversation or playtime. Johnny hasn’t even gotten a hug. He wasn’t even a teenager yet. At first, you were their entire world and now they can barely stand being around you. 

Johnny watched Benji play knights with Ben as he sauteed his shrimp. He remembers when he was the cool uncle. Franklin would want to hang out with him all the time. 

“Uncle Ben!” Benji laughed as Ben picked him off the ground and spun him. 

‘Show off’ Johnny muttered under his breath. Johnny needed another distraction. Dinner was almost done and Peter was still nowhere to be seen. Shrimp Scampi was best served hot. Most dinners were best served hot but Peter seemed to have a preference for cold meals. 

Reed must have been ecstatic in this world. Finally, someone who would hole themselves up in the lab for hours geeking out about science. And they were family too. Ugh, he wondered if other Johnny had to go down and drag Peter by the ear upstairs to dinner as Sue did. Maybe he should call. 

Johnny ignored his heart as he dialed Peter’s number. He breathed out, running a few lines in his head to sound as natural as possible. Disappointment rose when the call went to voicemail. Johnny tried two more times before deciding that any more would look too desperate for a casual check-in call. He bit his lip and thought for a while before dialing Reed’s number. Thankfully Reed always answers his phone. 

“Hey, Reed.” 

“Johnny, everything okay up there?” He could hear the clicks of the computer and other strange noises in the background. No doubt, he was working on another experiment. 

“Yeah, just making dinner, I can’t get through to Peter. Can you ask him what time he’ll be home tonight?” He kept his voice steady and carefree. 

“Peter hasn’t come in today but if he does I’ll be sure to tell him, fascinating.” Johnny froze. He hung up the phone knowing Reed wouldn’t take notice. Peter wasn’t with Reed. More importantly, he hasn’t been with Reed for the entire day. Does that mean Peter lied to him?

“Hey, Sparky,” Ben drew him from his thoughts. “You okay there?” 

“Yeah, umm, dinner is ready, take a seat.” He rushed to grab the plates. This wasn’t a big deal anyway. He wasn’t Peter’s real husband. What did it matter if Peter lied to him? He shouldn’t care. He didn’t care! This was fine. He was fine. Everything was fine. He paid no mind to the icky feeling turning in his stomach. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry guys that its been so long and the chapter is so short. There's been a lot going on between college and my family. This chapter was supposed to be longer but I haven't been able to sit down and focus so I'm hoping posting this will help to alleviate some stress and make writing the rest easier. I've not abandoned this story, I'm actually behind on other but this is my priority so be patient with me please. I really hope you guys enjoy. I'll get the other part out as quickly as possible.

**Author's Note:**

> No, I have no abandoned this story. I am still just as dedicated as the readers that comment. It's been a while since I posted and I really hope I could meet your expectations. I'm gonna try doing this one in chapters since I'm still trying to work out somethings with the end and have school to balance. I hope you enjoyed it. Tell me what you think in the comments!
> 
> If you are keeping track of the series remember to subscribe to the series with the story too. 
> 
> Oh btw here is that R&B version of Itsy Bitsy Spider : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEG8MsCSMU0


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